Bites: John David California, Peter Terzian, Jeff Buckley oral history, St. Vincent in a graveyard,

In an interview with The Village Voice, Frederick Colting, aka John David California, appears a little too innocent. The writer, who is being sued by J.D. Salinger, claims his novel is a modern-day Frankenstein. Colting doesn’t further elaborate as to thematic or genre-bending similarities to Mary Shelley’s Prometheus, but he does equate Salinger, that infamously reclusive and libel-minded writer, to the infamously bratty character of Holden Caulfield. “Holden acts like the entire world revolves around him. And, in a way, now Salinger is acting much the same.”

Peter Terzian, editor of the book Heavy Rotation: Twenty Writers on the Albums That Changed Their Lives (more on this book later), likes the Go-Betweens!

The Smithsonian Folklife Festivalstarted yesterday (and runs through July 5th), and this year they are asking Wales to be one of the countries that shares their arts and traditions. No word if there is going to be a “John Cale Appreciation Night”, but I’m holding out on making the trip until they pay the great Welsh hero some respect.